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CarsLore / Compare / Compact cars / Focus vs Protege

Ford Focus vs Mazda Protege

Two compact cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. 2 like-for-like measures: the Ford Focus leads on 1, the Mazda Protege on 1.

Where each one leads

Ford Focus

  • On Canada's official test the most frugal 2018 Ford Focus uses 7.0 l/100 km, the 2003 Mazda Protege 9.0.

Mazda Protege

  • Against cars of the same year, the Mazda Protege comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 15% more often than average) than the Ford Focus (fails 36% more often than average).

Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare

At a glance

Ford FocusMazda Protege
Model years in the US safety record1999–20181982–2006
New cars registered in Europe2,529,698 (2010–2022)—
Licensed in the United Kingdom895,531—
On the road in the Netherlands159,279—
In traffic in Finland57,546—

EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).

Reliability and problems

Ford FocusMazda Protege
UK MOT first-time pass rate68%—
… against cars of the same age−1%—
New York safety inspections failed3.0%2.2%
… against cars of the same year+36%+15%
Illogical odometer records (NL)3.2%—
US owner complaints22,1051,076
Most complaints aboutPower trainSeat belts
Model year with most complaints2012 (3,770)1995 (165)
US recall campaigns366
Manufacturer service bulletins1,969889
NHTSA defect investigations6012

Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).

Safety

Ford FocusMazda Protege
NHTSA overall rating5★ (2018)—

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).

Fuel, emissions and price

Ford FocusMazda Protege
Official combined fuel use, Canada7.0 l/100 km (2018)9.0 l/100 km (2003)
Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid6.7 l/100 km—
Real-world use in Europe, diesel5.5 l/100 km—
Real-world use in Europe, petrol7.6 l/100 km—
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe124 g/km—
Average power of new cars in Europe96 kW (129 hp)—
Average mass in running order1,414 kg—
Dutch list price when new (median)€27,290—
Average odometer in Finland192,000 km—

Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).